This is my adventure of converting a '96 Honda ST1100 to electric drive.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

It is mocking me...

I wasn't sure if I could get 36 of the 100Ah cells in the frame and still be able to get the skin back on the bike (My goal is for the bike to look as stock as possible.) As seen earlier, one of the NTEAA members made some wood mockups for the 60Ah(b) Sinopoly cells for me, but I needed to see if the 100Ah cells would fit. With the help of a couple of the Dallas Makerspace members, I built 40 of the 100Ah and 36 of the 60Ah size mockups out of construction paper. We used Pepakura software to model the cells and used a laser cutter to cut them out, then folded and hot glued the 60's... on the 100's I used clear tape, I was tired and gluing took too long.

I laid out the 100Ah cells and it quickly became obvious that I wouldn't be able to get them to fit, even if I used all of the space up front in the frame and both of the pannier cases at the back of the bike (leaving me no storage at all.) I then laid out the 60Ah mockups and discovered that I would have plenty of room with them.

36 of the 60Ah cells will give me a 115.2 vdc, 6.91kWh pack, which should yield at least a 45 mile range with 80% DOD, assuming 120 wh/mi. A 36 cell pack will use just under 38 liters of volume, and weigh just over 68 kilos (150 lbs). I'm estimating that the cost for the pack will be under $3000, plus shipping.

The 40 100Ah mockups have been donated to the NTEAA for members to use for making their own battery boxes, etc.